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A Girl of the West 


BY 


BERTHA BENDELE 

u 



SAULSBURY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BALTIMORE, MD. 


Copyright, 1919, 

By Bertha Bendele 



* *0 


J. F. TAPLEY CO. 
NEW YORK 


©CI.A5306 95 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


CHAPTER I 

Among the hills of Arizona nestled by a creek 
stood a little farm house and in this house lived an 
old lady and an old man with an only grandchild, 
who was about ten years old. She had two long 
braids of nut brown hair hanging down her back; 
blue eyes; red cheeks, and lips and was a perfect 
beauty. She was gathering wild flowers near an 
old Spring back of the house which is her favorite 
playground ; she climbed upon a big rock that hung 
over the creek and gazed at the water that rippled 
below. She was singing an old love song her mother 
taught her before she was taken to a better world — ■ 
“Barbara” called her grandmother. 

“Yes, Grandmother, I will be there in a minute.” 

“Hurry now for the cows have to be tended.” 

She gathered up her mountain pinks that was 
laying on the rocks and hurried to the house. She 
went into the bedroom where her grandfather was 
sitting by the window reading a magazine. As she 
3 


4 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


entered the room he said, “Hello pet !” She dropped 
her flowers on the floor and sprang to his side throw- 
ing her arms around his neck and gave him a hearty 
smack. 

“Why, where did you get those pretty flowers 
Barbara?” the old man said. 

“I gathered them by the old spring Grandad,” 
she answered. 

“Will you give me one?” he asked. 

“Why, of course,” as she threw the whole lot over 
him and ran laughing out into the kitchen where 
her grandmother said sharply: 

“What are you up to?” 

“Nothing, Granny,” as she picked up her milk 
pails and jumped over old Jack, her dog, and sped 
away to the pens where the cows were. When she 
got back it was sundown; she strained the milk in 
smaller pails and carried it to the milk house that 
was built over the spring; she came back and set 
the table for supper and lit the candles for her 
grandmother. After supper she cleared away the 
dishes, carried the lights to the bedroom which they 
used for front room and sleeping, too. 

She gathered up her flowers that were lying on 
the floor, put them in a vase of water and went out 
on the little front porch where her grandfather and 
grandmother were. There was a long silence and 
the old man was the first to break it, by saying, 
“Hettie, don’t you think we had better send Barbara 
to school?” he asked his wife. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


5 


“Barbara,” said the old woman speaking to the 
child, “would you like to go to school?” 

The child jumped up and down for joy. “Oh! 
Granny, how I wish I could ; I would study so hard.” 
The old man answered, “So you shall, my pet, so 
you shall!” as he gathered her in his arms and 
kissed her. 

Next morning Barbara started to a little country 
school. She had to walk about a mile. As she 
went down the road she heard footsteps behind her; 
she stopped, turned around and looked to see who 
it was. A boy about twelve years old with black 
hair and eyes was overtaking her; she could not 
run because that would not be right, so he tipped 
his cap, spoke a cheerful good morning and was 
walking along beside of shy little Barbara. He 
asked her name; she shot a shy glance at him and 
answered, “Barbara Dean — what is your name?” 

He answered promptly, “Will Deering.” 

“Where are you going?” she asked. 

“To school,” he replied. 

“So am I.” 

“What grade are you in?” 

“Oh, I am not in any,” she replied. “And here 
we are too !” as she looked down the road. 

There stood a little house that served as a school 
house for twenty-one pupils. The school-master 
was an old man with gray hair and kind blue eyes. 
As these two children entered the room all the pupils 
stared at them, for they were both new scholars ; they 


6 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


went up to the teacher’s desk with their lunch pails 
in one hand and books in the other. 

The school-master looked them over, then he 
asked, “What is your name and what is your name 
and what grade are you in?” 

They told him their names; the boy went in the 
fourth grade and Barbara had to stay in at recess 
and answer a whole lot of questions for she had 
never gone to school before, but had studied at home 
ever since she was six years old. So she was put in 
the fourth grade too, and so she fulfilled her promise 
to her granddad. 

Will Deering was as good to her as a brother; 
he carried her lunch pail every morning and took 
up for her at school. He lived just below her grand- 
father’s farm with his only brother who was about 
twenty-four years old; his brother worked in the 
mines and supported them. Their mother had been 
a widow for eight long years, when she was called 
to go. She sent for her son and said, “Norman, 
will you send Will to school and give him an edu- 
cation? Promise me this.” And he promised and 
was fulfilling her wishes. 

Barbara and Will grew to be good friends, and 
in vacation they were together nearly all the time. 
Norman went to work in the mines every day and 
left Will all alone during vacation time. Barbara 
and Will went in the hills to hunt flints and water 
crystals. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


7 


“Will, how many flints have you got?” asked Bar- 
bara. 

“I don’t know,” answered Will. “What do you 
want to know for?” 

“Oh,” said Barbara, “one Summer I had found 
five pounds and a man from New York City gave 
me five dollars for them and he was awful nice; he 
ate dinner with us.” 

“Ate dinner with you !” echoed Will. “You don’t 
mean it!” 

She looked at him inquiringly and he hastened 
to explain. “Oh, some people are so stuck up they 
can’t eat anything unless it is with silver and china.” 

“Well,” said Barbara, “he never got silver or 
china at our house, and he said he liked his din- 
ner, too.” 

This conversation took place on the side of a 
mountain, where they were hunting flints ; they went 
on. After a while Barbara exclaimed, “Where are 
we ?” 

“Don’t know,” said Will, glancing around him. 
“This is the first time I ever saw this place, but look, 
Barbara, at the flints around here.” He stooped 
over and went to gathering and putting them in a 
sack. He looked up, seeing Barbara looking around 
as if studying the place where they were. Then, 
seeing him looking at her, she exclaimed, “Why, we 
are on Soldier Flat; it is about four miles from 
home, I think.” 


8 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“I guess we have enough flints for this time, don’t 
you think so, Barbara? I got all I can carry of 
flints and crystals, too. Let’s go home, for it is 
now time for Norman to come from his work.” 

They went a little ways, then Barbara exclaimed, 
“Listen !” 

“What is it?” 

“I don’t know,” said Barbara, “but it sounded 
like somebody screaming. I hear it again. Oh, 
Will, it is a mountain lion.” These last words were 
said hurriedly. As they were hurrying down the 
mountainside, Barbara slipped and fell. She tried 
to get up, but found she had sprained her ankle; 
she swayed and would have fallen if Will had not 
caught her. 

“What is the matter, Barbara?” asked Will ex- 
citedly. 

“I sprained my ankle,” said Barbara. “What 
shall we do?” 

“I know,” said Will; “I will carry you.” 

“Oh,” exclaimed Barbara, “you can’t; I am too 
heavy.” 

“Well,” said Will, “I will till I get tired, then 
I must leave you and go get help.” 

Barbara shuddered at the thought of being left 
alone. Just then there was a loud, piercing scream 
from the lion, and Barbara fainted. Luckily, Will 
had brought a bottle of water with him. He bathed 
her face and in a few minutes her big blue eyes 
opened; he picked her up and carried her, for he 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


9 


was a strong lad for fourteen years old. He car- 
ried her for about a mile and a half, then he stopped, 
put her down and said, “Barbara, will you stay 
here till I come back?” She caught his hand and 
would not let him go till he said, “Be brave, little 
girl; be brave, for I will run all the way.” 

“Yes, Will, I will be brave; I will stay here till 
you come back, but don’t run all the way, for you 
will have to come back with your brother to show 
him where I am.” 

“My brother?” echoed Will. 

“Yes,” said Barbara, “for he is big and strong, 
and grand-dad is too old to carry me such a dis- 
tance.” 

“Well, we will get home some way,” said Will. 

“Ouch! Oh, my poor foot!” These last words 
were said with a sound of pain. Will took off his 
coat and fixed a pillow for her head; then he hur- 
ried off. Barbara went to sleep. 

When Will got home, his brother was getting 
ready to hunt for them, because the old people were 
worried about them. When Norman saw Will he 
asked excitedly, “Where is Barbara?” Will told 
him the best he could about the accident and, to- 
gether, they started out to get her. They found her 
asleep. Norman picked her up and carried her 
home, where she lay for three weeks, waited upon by 
her grandmother and an old doctor that lived about 
fifteen miles down in the valley. 

When Barbara got well school had commenced 


10 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


again, so she had to get ready for school. She 
went all Winter and studied hard. After school 
was out she helped her grandmother with the gar- 
den; when she wasn’t working in the garden she 
was gathering wild flowers and roaming in the forest 
with Will. 


CHAPTER II 


One day she and Will had just come home from 
a ramble in the woods. There was a man there and 
he was talking to her grandfather. 

Will went on home and Barbara went in the house 
to help her grandmother with the dinner. She aft- 
erwards learned this man’s name was Gus Simpson, 
and he wanted to buy her grandfather’s place be- 
cause he wanted the spring to water his cattle; he 
had about ten thousand head. He and his brother 
were partners in the cattle business. 

Barbara asked her grand-dad if he was going to 
sell, and he answered, “Yes.” 

“But, Grand-dad, where are we going when we 
sell this place?” 

“We are going to Yuma, my dear,” answered her 
grandfather. 

“Where Uncle Jack is?” asked Barbara. 

“Yes,” said her grandfather; “I think I will go 
in partnership with Jack. He wanted me to a long 
time ago. It is warmer there than here and I think 
the climate will agree with your grandmother.” 

“When is Mr. Simpson coming up again?” asked 
Barbara. 


11 


12 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“To-morrow.” 

Next day Mr. Simpson came up and Barbara’s 
grandfather and him closed the deal. Mrs. Clark 
signed the deeds and for three long days — Thursday, 
Friday and Saturday — Barbara and her grand- 
father packed their household goods. They gave 
a big dinner to their many friends and bid them 
all good-by. Barbara and Will was sitting on the 
little front porch watching the sunset after all their 
guests were gone. 

“Well, I don’t care if you go away, for I am, 
too,” said Will. 

“Where?” asked Barbara. 

“To High School,” answered Will. 

“Well, you did not answer my question,” said 
Barbara; “where are you going to High School?” 

“I am going to Flagstaff,” Norman said. “That 
was good enough for me; your grandfather has 
promised me a job punching cattle. Won’t I shine, 
riding broncos and branding cattle?” 

“Oh, I bet I can beat you riding broncos,” said 
Barbara ; “and I am going to Flagstaff to go 
to school too, as soon as we get settled in 
our new home. Grand-dad said Uncle Jack had 
about ten cowboys working for him. You know, 
Will, I would make a good cowgirl; I like to ride 
out on the range and watch the cattle grazing for 
miles around. You’ll have to range brand, Will, 
for I am going to ride broncos. I’ll make a cow- 
girl, all right.” 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


13 


Will commenced laughing and Barbara laughed 
too, and the old man, coming out on the porch and 
seeing the kids laughing, asked, “What’s the mat- 
ter with you darn kids?” 

“Oh,” said Will, “Barbara said she was going to 
be a bronco-buster,” and the old man laughed, and 
Barbara crimsoned to the brow, and then she said, 
“Yes, and he was making fun of me, but I don’t care; 
I will, just the same, when I come back from school.” 

“Yes,” said Grand-dad, “Barbara will make a 
cowgirl all right; her mother and Uncle Jack were 
natural-born riders.” When the old man spoke of 
his daughter he always shed a few tears; her name 
was Barbara too. He spoke to his wife, Nettie, 
“Don’t you think Barbara is just like her mother?” 
and the old woman gathered her checked apron and 
brushed away the tears that gathered in her eyes 
before she answered. “Yes, little Barbara is just 
like her mother.” 

The little girl, seeing tears in her grandfather’s 
and grandmother’s eyes, went to crying as though 
her poor little heart would break, and she was mur- 
muring between her sobs, “My poor mother, my 
poor mother.” She was nine years old when her 
mother died and she told the little girl to be good 
and stay with her grandfather and grandmother, 
and little Barbara always remembered her mother’s 
drawn, white face and beautiful blue eyes; also her 
nut-brown hair lying on the white pillow. Barbara 
was still crying, and Will started patting her on 


14 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


the arm and saying, “Don’t cry, Barbara; don’t 
cry; everything will be all right. Oh, listen, Bar- 
bara, you know a bronco-buster don’t cry at all; 
if he does, everybody will laugh at him.” At that 
Barbara dried her tears and they went into the 
house to supper. 

After supper Will bid them all good-by and went 
home, but Barbara sat in the gloom, thinking of 
her mother. Her grand-dad tried to tell her about 
her Uncle Jack’s place, but she refused to talk, and 
the old man said: 

“Well, I guess we will have to go to bed; come, 
Barbara, it is time for little girls to be in bed.” 
Barbara went to bed, but after her grandparents 
were asleep she crept out of bed, put on her clothes, 
called her dog and went to her mother’s grave; 
she picked an armful of wild roses and strung them 
over her mother’s little earth bed and then, drop- 
ping down on her knees and saying her prayers, she 
whispered a good-night and went to the house and 
crept into bed again and was sleeping peacefully 
in a few moments. The next morning they left for 
Yuma. They arrived at about twelve-thirty, and 
her Uncle Jack was there to meet them with his hack, 
to take them to the — W — Ranch, which was about 
ten miles South of Yuma. It had a big rock fence 
around the house where they had a garden; there 
were flowers and running vines in the garden and a 
big pool of water in the center with water lilies in it 
and big palm trees growing around it; this was 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


15 


the first place that Barbara found. They went into 
a big cool room and removed their wraps; then the 
dinner bell rang and they went into a big hall which 
served as a dining room; there was a long table 
the length of the hall; there was a lot of loud talk- 
ing and jingling of spurs and a big bunch of cow- 
boys came trooping in to the dining room; they 
were all taking seats at the table and a big, tall 
fellow with brown eyes sat next to Barbara. Before 
he knew it, he turned around and, seeing her, jumped 
back and howled, “Oh!” 

Barbara laughed and the other punchers just 
roared; then her Uncle got up from his chair and 
introduced them. Barbara kept up a steady con- 
versation with Tall Jim. 

After dinner, Barbara said to her Uncle Jack, 
“Where is our sleeping room? I am so tired I 
would like to lie down and rest a while.” 

“All right, baby, come this way and I will show 
you your room.” 

“Oh, Uncle Jack, I wish you would not call me 
baby; I am fifteen now.” 

“Well, Barbara, this room is yours, all by your- 
self, and Minnie will be your maid.” 

“Oh, Uncle Jack, did you ever dream of being 
rich and wearing fine clothes and having maids to 
wait on you?” asked Barbara. 

“You can just tell Minnie to do anything; wash 
your face if you want her to,” said Uncle Jack. 
“You won’t be afraid to sleep up here all alone, 


16 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


will you? Your maid can sleep in the room next 
to yours.” 

“No, I won’t be afraid and I will just love it. 
Say, Uncle Jack, can I have this room when I get 
back from school?” said Barbara. 

“Yes, and good-bye; I hope you like your maid, 
and don’t be afraid of her because she is Mexican.” 
And with these words he went downstairs and Bar- 
barba laid down on her bed and cried herself to 
sleep. 

Out in the bunk house the cowboys were having 
lots of fun out of Tall Jim, who sat next to Bar- 
bara at dinner. They slapped him on the back and 
told him he was lucky to sit by such a pretty girl. 
“It’s a wonder his looks didn’t spoil her dinner,” 
said one of the boys. 

“Oh,” said Tall Jim, “you fellows are just jealous, 
that’s what’s the matter with you.” 

“Gee-whiz,” said a little puncher sitting on his 
heels, “I hope she’s not one of these little things 
that faints and falls over every time a cow starts 
toward her — a tenderfoot — eh, Jim?” 

“Well, little Bill, I’ll bet you ten dollars she won’t 
be no tenderfoot.” 

“All right,” said little Bill, “it’s a go.” 


CHAPTER III 


Barbara stayed at the ranch three days and got 
acquainted with all the cowboys; there was Tall 
Jim with brown eyes and red hair and as ugly as a 
horned toad; and there was Curly, who had brown 
eyes and brown curly hair, from which he got his 
nick-name; and Little Bill, a little cow puncher, 
rather fat, but a good rider; Johnnie was a kid 
about twenty years old with blue eyes and yellow 
hair; he was horse ranger; and Buck Missouri Joe, 
Alabama Kid, Arizona Bob, Black Jack and Billie 
Dun — they were from everywhere. Barbara just 
learned their nick-names and she liked Curly the 
best because he was a bronco-buster; he had been 
breaking horses for her Uncle Jack for two years. 

The next day Barbara bid them all good-bye, and 
her uncle took her to town to go to Flagstaff to 
enter High School. Barbara arrived at Flagstaff 
late that evening; her teacher was a middle-aged 
woman with red hair and blue eyes. Barbara liked 
her as soon as she laid eyes on her. Her room- 
mate was a girl from New York and she had never 
been any farther west than Flagstaff. Barbara 
asked her all about New York, and she told about 
17 


18 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


the big city where she had lived since a baby. Her 
name was Dorothy Ray. Barbara liked her, but 
she was as green as new cheese. 

Barbara had been at the school about two months ; 
the sun was shining down nice and warm for a No- 
vember morning. She crossed the grassy lawn, 
which was green when she came there, but now the 
grass was dead and brown and the snow was melting 
away. 

Barbara went up and knocked at the door of the 
boy’s room; a man came to the door; he said a 
cheerful good-morning and asked her what she 
wanted. Barbara told him she wanted to see Will 
Deering. 

“All right; come this way.” Barbara followed 
him through the schoolroom and went out on a long 
porch that was screened in ; there was a lot of boys 
playing there with balls and tennis rackets. 

“Will!” called the schoolmaster. 

“Yes, sir,” answered Will. 

“Here is a young lady to see you.” 

He was sitting on the floor talking to a group 
of boys about his age when the teacher called him. 
He got up and came over where they were. 

“Hello, Barbara,” greeted Will as he saw her. 
“What do you want?” he asked. 

“Say, Will, don’t you remember you promised 
to take me to the skating rink yesterday afternoon?” 

“Oh, Barbara, I am so sorry, but I forgot it, so 
we will go this afternoon,” apologized Will. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


19 


“Yes,” said Barbara, “it will be all right this aft- 
ernoon. I was so tired yesterday anyway; I will 
wait for you at the gate.” 

“All right,” answered Will. 

That afternoon about two o’clock Will found 
Barbara at the gate with her skates hanging over 
her shoulder. When they went into the skating 
rink there was a large crowd of boys and girls al- 
ready there. Everybody greeted them cheerfully, 
for they were very popular with their school-mates. 

“Gee!” exclaimed Will, “but you sure can skate 
well for a new beginner.” 

“Yes,” said Barbara; “that is the way I will 
learn horse-back riding.” They went around and 
around, talking nonsense till it was time to go home. 
It commenced to snow about dark and Barbara said 
to Dorothy, “I hope the snow will be about eight 
inches deep in the morning, because it is Saturday 
and we can coast. Won’t that be lots of fun?” 

“Do you know how to coast?” asked Dorothy. 

“Oh, yes,” said Barbara. “I used to coast all 
the time in the winter.” 

Next morning the fog was so thick that you could 
not see fifty feet away, but in the evening about 
four o’clock it cleared away and the sun was shin- 
ing down nice and warm. All the young people 
were at the coasting hill. Barbara had a new 
sleigh; it was red and low. 

“Oh,” said Dorothy, “why didn’t you get a sled 
like Mary Phillips? Hers is so beautiful.” 


20 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“I wouldn’t have one of them things ; they are too 
high. I want one that can go fast,” exclaimed 
Barbara. 

Dorothy, seeing Barbara waiting, asked, “What 
are you waiting for?” 

“For them to give me some room. Here it is,” 
as she put her sled down. She ran along the side 
of it a little ways, then she yelled as loud as she 
could, jumped on her sled boy-fashion and went 
down the hill head first, passing all the sleds, com- 
ing out first about fifty feet ahead. She got up, 
took up her sled-string and went up the hill. Then 
she noticed that all the girls sat on their sleds, but 
she did not care; everybody yelled out for Barbara, 
said that she could beat all the boys coasting; but 
as Barbara went in the music room Monday to take 
her music lessons, she noticed that all the girls 
turned up their noses at her and she knew why and 
didn’t care. She went on and won out of the ninth 
grade and went into the tenth. 

When school was out she went home — and she 
was glad to get back to see her old friends. All 
the cow punchers were glad to see her, too. After 
greeting her grandfather and grandmother and 
Uncle Jack, she went down to the bunk house, where 
the cowboys were, and made Curly promise to teach 
her to ride; so Curly went out and caught a young 
horse that was so gentle you could pat him on the 
nose. Barbara, seeing this, shook her head and 
said, “Do you think I am a baby that I have to 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


21 


ride broken horses? Go and get me the meanest 
horse you have in the herd.’ 5 

Tall Jim and all of the boys were grinning 
now, and Curly’s face was lit up with admira- 
tion. 

“Well!” he said as he wheeled around and was 
gone to the pastures on a gallop. 

“Say, girl,” said Tall Jim, “don’t you know that 
horse will throw you and break your neck?” 

“I don’t care,” said Barbara hotly. “You think 
I am going to be a tenderfoot. Now if you think 
that you are wrong, for I would just as soon be 
in my grave.” 

“Now, there you are, boys,” said Tall Jim. “Say, 
Little Bill, hand over your ten dollars.” 

“Why, what do you all mean?” said Barbara sur- 
prised. 

“Well,” said Tall Jim, “Little Bill bet me ten 
dollars that you was a tenderfoot.” 

Barbara flashed a scornful look on Little Bill 
and he came up to her and apologized. She was 
telling them about Dorothy Ray when she was in- 
terrupted by Curly’s voice : 

“Here is your horse, Barbara.” 

“Oh, how beautiful he is,” exclaimed Barbara. 

“All right, Curly, saddle him for me. What’s his 
name?” 

“Sliver,” answered Curly. “I will have him ready 
for you,” he was saying as he led the horse 
to the saddle house. 


22 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Now, Miss Barbara,” said Tall Jim, “I want 
to give you a little advice.” 

“All right,” laughed Barbara. 

“Well, in the first place,” said Tall Jim, “when 
a horse goes to bucking, don’t whip him; get him 
used to your spurs.” 

“Oh, yes,” said Barbara. “I look like riding a 
horse here. I’ve got on my traveling dress; tell 
Curly to wait till I get my skirts on,” and with these 
words she went running off to get her riding habit 
on. In a few minutes she came out with a large 
white felt cowboy hat on her head and heavy khaki 
riding skirt with real leather fringe on it, and boots, 
spurs and a coat and gloves to match her skirt. 

“Gee,” remarked Buck, “but she sure looks swell.” 

“See how long her hair is,” said Alabama Kid. 

Barbara had her hair braided down her back and 
it came below her waist. 

“Do you want me to hold him,” asked Curly. 

“No. I will get on him.” She took the bridle 
reins out of Curly’s hand, threw them over the 
horse’s head ; she started around to his side. 
“Ugh!” he snorted and, went bucking away. The 
cowboys all stood with their mouths open, looking 
for something to happen, but no sooner had she 
put her foot in the stirrup than she swung into the 
saddle as only cowboys can. The horse gave a big 
jump and started to run, but Barbara quieted him 
down and all the cowboys gave a yell. 

“Oh, you booby! Didn’t I tell you that I could 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


23 


make a bronco-buster?” exclaimed Barbara with 
laughing, flashing eyes. But the horse refused to 
be still; he started to bucking. Barbara could not 
stop him, so Curly ran up and gave her his quirt 
and she went to whipping him and all the cow punch- 
ers commenced yelling and howling; the horse got 
scared and started off on a run, but Barbara pulled 
down on the reins and held him down. Her uncle, 
grandfather and grandmother heard the noise and 
ran out of the house to see what the fun was about. 
Jack Clark, seeing Barbara on one of the worst 
horses on the ranch, ran down to get her off, but 
the old man turned and went into the house laughing. 
But before her uncle got down where they were, 
Barbara and Curly had started off down the road. 

The cow punchers were laughing, and Jack, seeing 
them, asked hotly, “What do you fellows mean by 
letting that girl ride that horse? Don’t you know 
he will throw her and hurt her ?” 

“Pardon me, boss,” said Tall Jim, “but she would 
not ride any other horse; Curly got Pet for her and 
she would not ride him, so we let her ride Sliver, 
and her and Curly are going to the double tanks 
to get some broncs Curly has been riding — they 
won’t be back till supper.” 

“Well!” said Jack Clark meekly as he turned and 
went into the house. 

“Oh, LTncle Jack, won’t you give me a birthday 
dance? You know, I will be sweet sixteen the fifth 
of April,” said Barbara one day to her uncle. 


24 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Well,” answered her uncle, “where would you 
dance? We will have to have plenty of room, be- 
cause these people are dancing fools when they get 
started and want plenty of room to dance in.” 

“Well,” said Barbara, “we can dance in the din- 
ing room.” 

“Why, of course,” said Uncle Jack. “Sure, girl, 
fix your invitations and we will send them out.” 

“Oh, Pm so glad! I am going up to my room 
and write them now,” and she went running up the 
stairs. After she had written the invitations she 
went down to tell the cowboys about it. They were 
all resting in the shade of a big palm tree before 
dinner was called, and Tall Jim saw her; he got up 
and shouted, “Here she comes, boys, on a dead run.” 

All the cow punchers jumped up and, looking 
around, said, “Who? What? Who’s coming?” 

Barbara came running down where they were. 

“Say, you boys, I want you to come to my birth- 
day dance, and don’t forget to bring your girls 
with you.” 

“What is it now?” asked Tall Jim. 

“Why, Uncle Jack is going to give me a birthday 
dance and you are all invited. Do you understand?” 

“Yes,” answered Tall Jim. “Say, Barbara, will 
you give me the first waltz?” 

“No. If you bring your girl she will want the 
first waltz.” 

“Oh, but I haven’t got no girl,” said Tall Jim. 


GIRL OF THE WEST 


25 


“Well, if that is so, you can have the first waltz.” 

“All right, and don’t you forget.” 

All the punchers howled for a dance; she told 
them she would dance with them all. After she had 
gone, Curly came in; he dropped down on his bed 
and was taking off his spurs and the boys told him 
about Barbara’s birthday dance. 

“Say, did she say she would dance with us cow- 
boys?” asked Curly, his eyes sparkling. 

“Yes,” answered the boys. 

“I got the first waltz,” said Tall Jim. 

“Now, say boys,” said Curly, turning to the other 
cowboys sitting in the back of the room, “let’s see 
that the first dance is not a waltz; here’s where I 
make a smash on her too, because I can beat you 
fellows dancing.” 

“How is that?” said Little Bill. 

“Well,” said Curly, “I went to a dancing school 
when I was a kid.” 

“I’ll bet I can beat you dancing the round dance,” 
said Little Bill. 

“Oh, yes,” laughed Curly, “you done made a smash 
on Barbara. Nix, you call her a tenderfoot; see 
there, you’re left in the cold.” 

They were surprised by Barbara’s footsteps. 

“Do you know where we can get some music?” 
she was saying. 

“Yes,” said Curly. “Get them Mexicans that are 
working for the XT outfit.” 


26 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Are they good musicians?” asked Barbara. 

“No, not so fine, but they play very well — the 
best in this country.” 

“All right, Curly, you can go and engage them 
if you will.” 

“Thank you, I will,” replied Curly as he started 
off to get his horse. 

The evening of the fifth everybody was there and 
was waiting for the music. Barbara was dressed 
in a pale blue dress that became her lovely blue 
eyes, and the punchers were dressed in their white 
silk shirts and red neckties and boots, so they shone 
like diamonds. When they came in the house they 
all removed their hats, hung them on the rack on 
the wall and came in the dance hall. Everybody 
except Curly and Tall Jim had their girls with them. 
Barbara was helping Curly to put up some decora- 
tion, and she heard the hum of a guitar and singing. 

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “they are coming,” and she 
went running to the door. And this is what the 
musicians were singing: 

“I could not be so well content, so sure of thee, 
Lolita ; 

But well I know thou must relent and come to me, 
Lolita. 

The caballerous throng to see thy laughing face, 
Senorita, 

But well I know thy heart’s for me, thy grace, thy 
charm, Lolita. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


27 


I ride the range for thy dear sake, to earn the gold, 
Senorita Lolita, 

And steal the gringo’s cows to make a ranch to 
hold Lolita.” 

As they were coming through the gate, the sing- 
ing ceased and Barbara heard someone remark be- 
hind her, “I guess he’s played out.” 

She looked around to see who it was and almost 
bumped heads with Tall Jim. 

“They are coming, thank God,” said Curly, com- 
ing up to Barbara. “Say,” said he, “do you know 
this song?” 

“What is it?” 

“The Trail of Dreams,” answered Curly. 

“Yes,” said Barbara. 

“Will you sing it if I play it?” he asked. 

“Why, Curly, I didn’t know you could play the 
guitar.” 

“I can, you see.” 

“All right, tell them that the dance will open 
with a solo by Miss Barbara Dean,” said Barbara, 
laughing. 

“Very well,” said Curly, as he stepped up to the 
head of the room and held up his hand for silence. 
Everyone looked at him inquiringly. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, this dance celebrates Miss 
Barbara Dean’s sixteenth birthday, and she will 
open it by singing a solo, ‘The Trail of Dreams,’ 
which I have the pleasure to play.” He went down 


28 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


and got the guitar and sat down; Barbara stood 

by. He played and Barbara’s sweet, strong voice 

rose above the hum of the guitar as she sang: 

“Do you remember the camp we made as we roved 
on the mesa floor, 

Where the grass rolled down like a running sea in 
the wind — and the world are one. 

You laughed as you sat in the cedar shade and said 
’twas the ocean shore 

Of an island lost in a wizardy bf dreams for our- 
selves alone; 

Our ponies grazed in the drowsy noon, unsaddled, 
at ease and slow, 

And the far seen ranges were fairylands, blue hills 
in a haze of gray; 

Hands clasped on knee as you hummed a tune, a 
melody light and low. 

Do you remember the venture planned in jest, for 
your heart was gay? 

Well, saddle and ride to the very end of the long, 
long trail ahead. 

Sun and wind and the evening star and the glow 
of our wayside fire — 

And wherever the mesa trail may wend; well, follow 
and find, you said, 

The haunted hills that are lost, and the valley of 
hearts’ desire; 

Ride to the last green canyon edge, rest on the brink 
of space; 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


29 


Find a trail to its very heart that none but the 
eagles know; 

Sing as we round the river ledge, a scar on its mighty 
face, 

That gazes down on the silver thread of a stream 
and the pines below. 

Love will live till the gust is o’er and live in a magic 
land, 

Homeless, free as the fearless wind that drives over 
the mountain towers, 

And a woman’s face as she bends to find a filet of 
purple flowers; 

And then ... we were watching the ponies graze 
through the heat of the heart of noon, 

Till the ranges far were a fairyland aflame in the 
sunset’s fire. 

Do you remember that day of days that came to 
an end too soon? 

As so must ever the venture planned to the valley 
of hearts’ desire.” 

When the song was finished everybody was struck 
with surprise — they did not know that Curly could 
pick the guitar, as they never heard him play before, 
but someone somewhere said, “Amen.” Everybody 
laughed, and then Curly handed over the guitar to 
the Mexicans and the dancing began. Tall Jim 
called out for a waltz and Curly whispered some- 
thing in the musician’s ear and he started a two- 
step, and Curly got Barbara and around and around 


30 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


they went, so the dancing went on till streaks of 
dawn began to show in the east and the sun rose 
bright and clear, so Barbara decided she would 
take a long nap before noon and the boys had a 
good time teasing Tall Jim about his first waltz 
with Barbara. 


CHAPTER IV 


“Miss Barbara, someone to see you in the parlor,” 
announced Minnie, as she came in Barbara’s room 
with a card in her hand. 

“Who is it, Minnie?” asked Barbara. 

“Here is his name on this card,” said Minnie as 
she handed her the card. Barbara glanced at the 
name and jumped up from her chair and went run- 
ning down the stairs as fast as she could. She ran 
right into the parlor and extended both of her 
hands and cried, “Oh, Will, I am so glad to see 
you.” 

“Not half so glad as I am to see you,” answered 
Will. 

“Come on,” said Barbara, “let’s go hunt grand- 
father and grandmother and Uncle Jack. I think 
they are in the garden.” Barbara led Will out of 
the house into the garden. There, by the pool, sat 
the old people with their son, talking. When they 
saw Barbara coming with Will walking by her side, 
the old man remarked, “There is a good match.” 
Then he rose to his feet to greet Will. They were 
so glad to see him back among them once more. 

Will went to work next day for Jack Clark as 
31 


32 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


horse ranger; Barbara went with him nearly every 
morning. 

One day Barbara came into her uncle’s room and 
said, “Uncle Jack, if grandpa and grandma want 
to know where I am, tell them that I went to town 
to get the mail. I have to go get ready now.” 

“Hold on a minute,” said Uncle Jack. “Who 
is going with you?” 

“Curly,” answered Barbara. 

“All right,” said Uncle Jack; “I am going to 
hurry the boys out on their round-up in about ten 
minutes.” 

Barbara came out with her riding habit on ; Curly 
was waiting for her. As he led her horse to the 
gate, she swung into the saddle and she and Curly 
galloped away out of sight through the haze of the 
noon. After they had gone the other cowboys be- 
gan to get ready to go on the round-up. Curly 
was to meet them at Double Tanks, a place where 
they watered cattle when driving them to town to 
ship. Curly left Barbara at Yuma and hit the 
long, dusty trail to Double Tanks; he got there 
about sundown. He got off his horse and unsaddled 
him. All the cowboys were eating supper. He got 
a tin plate, helped himself to the meat, beans and 
biscuits and a tin cup full of black coffee ; he turned 
around, walked to the wagon wheel, sat back on 
his heel and ate as only hungry cowboys can. The 
other boys were talking of their day’s work, but 
Curly was busy with his own thoughts. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


33 


“What makes you so quiet?” asked Will, coming 
up to him. 

“Oh, nothing,” answered Curly. 

“Say, has your girl gone back on you?” asked 
Will. 

“Nope,” said Curly, as he flushed to the brow. 

“What’s the matter, then? You look pretty 
seedy,” said Will. 

“Now, look here, Will Derring, you attend to 
your own business,” said Curly with a flash from 
his brown eyes that told Will that he meant what 
he said. 

“All right,” he said as he turned on his heel and 
walked off. 

After supper the cowboys rolled out their bed and 
went to sleep ; every cowboy had his own pistol belt 
of cartridges, knife and rifle which he always car- 
ried on his saddle, for there were lots of Mexicans 
in that part of the country and they would organ- 
ize bands and come and steal people’s horses and 
cattle or anything else. 

Next morning found the boys fresh and rested 
and ready for a long ride in the hot sun and 
dust ; they traveled about thirty miles and 
stopped at another water hole they called Crystal 
Springs. 

“Well, I guess we will stay here about a week,” 
said the foreman, coming up to Curly. “Go tell 
the boys to round up everything that looks like a 
cow.” 


34 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Aye, aye, sir,” said Curly as he got up and went 
to tell the boys. 

The next day the boys were all singing as they 
got up the horses and picked out their favorites. 
Each one got his horse and fixed for a good day’s 
work; at last they were ready and they rode off in 
twos and threes in different directions. 

About three o’clock in the afternoon they began 
to come in, bringing big bunches of cattle along; 
they thronged them into a big bunch; the boys had 
to take turns eating dinner because the cattle had 
to be herded; they never had any pen or needed 
any. They cut out, branded, drove cattle for a 
week; on the sixth day they moved on; they circled 
around till they were pretty close to the place where 
they were going to ship eight hundred head of 
steers. 

Tall Jim and Alabama Kid went on up to town, 
rode up in front of the saloon, got off their horses 
and went in. There was a big poker game going 
on, and Tall Jim standing there watching them play 
when somebody came up and slapped him on the 
back. He turned around to see who it was; a fel- 
low was standing back of him dressed all in white. 

“Where are you from, you hungry looking coon?” 
asked Tall Jim. 

“I would like to see you,” said the man. 

“Go to H ,” answered Tall Jim. 

“But, sir, how would you like to make a thousand 
dollars?” said the stranger. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


35 


“How would I make it?” asked Tall Jim. 

“Easy enough,” answered the man. “Will you 
hear what I have to say?” 

“Yes, sir,” said Tall Jim, “if you will wait here 
a minute; I have a friend here I want to see.” He 
found Alabama Kid talking to the JH foreman. 

“Come here, Kid,” said Tall Jim. 

“What you want?” said Alabama Kid. 

“Say, Kid,” said Tall Jim, “you see that fellow 
with the white pants on?” 

“Where?” asked Alabama Kid, straining his eyes 
in the pale lamp light. 

“Oh, that hungry-looking son-of-a-gun there; are 
you blind?” said Jim. 

“Yes, I see him now,” answered Alabama Kid. 

“Well, you keep an eye on him. I am going to 
get him outside and scare hell out of him. When 
you hear me howl you take a hand in what is going 
on,” said Tall Jim. 

“All right,” answered Alabama Kid. 

Tall Jim elbowed his way through the crowd, back 
to where the stranger was standing. “Come this 
way, stranger,” said Tall Jim. The man followed 
him outside in front of the saloon; then Tall Jim 
turned and said, “Spit out what you got to say.” 

“It is like this: I am manager of a moving pic- 
ture show and I have written a play of the west 
and I need about fifteen good cowboys to take a 
part. I will pay them each one thousand dollars 
to come with me to New York and I will pay their 


36 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


fare, too; how does that sound to you? Do you 
want to come?” said the stranger. 

“Maybe,” answered Tall Jim. “I don’t know 
whether you can get the other boys or not.” 

“Will you help me?” asked the stranger, laughing; 
“it will be easy with you along.” 

“Think so?” said Tall Jim; “and what would 
you do if they told you to go to H ?” 

“Bat them on the side of the head,” answered 
the stranger. 

“Well, go to it, then, but I am fearing you will 
get the bats on the side of the head,” said Tall Jim, 
starting to walk off. 

“Hold on a minute,” said the stranger; “can’t 
you help me?” 

“Go to H ,” answered Jim. 

“Say, I’d hate to lose you because you are wild 
and tough. Just the kind of boys I was looking 
for; can you ride broncos?” 

“Yes,” said Tall Jim, smiling. 

“You want to ride some? I got a good gentle 
horse here you can ride.” 

“Why, yes,” said the stranger, “I will ride with 
you; it’s pretty outside any way; the moon is shin- 
ing as bright as day; come on, let’s go.” 

“Wait here a minute,” said Tall Jim, as he stepped 
into the saloon. “Kid,” he called. Alabama Kid 
came up to him and asked, “Have you got him?” 

“Yes,” answered Tall Jim; “he is a moving pic- 
ture show sucker. I am going to have some fun; 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


37 


he’s as green as new cheese ; so you get the JH boys 
and station them down there at the turn of the road 
and put masks on and make out like you are out- 
laws. I am going to put him on that little old wall- 
eyed XX pony that can run and kick like sixty; 

he wants to ride now and we’ll scare H out of 

him. Do you savvy?” 

“Yes,” said Alabama Kid as he started off. 

“Wait a minute,” said Tall Jim. “Say, Kid, 
you get the foreman’s horse so I can have yours; 
that fellow is going to ride mine.” 

“All right,” said Alabama Kid, “we will do as 
you say.” 

Tall Jim went back to the stranger and said, 
“Come on, let’s have a little fun.” 

“What did you go in there for?” 

“To get a drink o’ red-eye,” said Jim with a grin 
on his face and trying to talk as rough as he could. 
Tall Jim walked out to where his horse and Ala- 
bama Kid’s were picketed and led them over to the 
stranger. He swung on the Kid’s horse first, then 
the stranger tried to get on his horse; some way 
he hit him in the flank with his foot; the pony 
snorted, jumped, and off went Mr. Movie-man onto 
the ground, and the pony started on a dead run 
down the road, but Tall Jim caught him and led 
him to where the stranger was sitting on the ground 
rubbing his head. 

“Say, I thought you said that horse was gentle,” 
said the stranger angrily. 


38 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“He is,” said Tall Jim, trying to keep the laugh- 
ter back; “but you see, you hit him in the flank 
with your foot; any horse would buck at that.” 

“Right you are,” said the stranger as he got to 
his feet. “I would ride him, but I am rather afraid 
he will break my neck.” 

“It wouldn’t hurt much if he did,” said Tall Jim. 

The stranger never said anything but got on the 
horse as fast as possible, being careful not to hit 
him in the flank and down the road they went, the 
stranger ahead. As they rounded the turn of the 
road, Tall Jim noticed that the little old wall- 
eyed cayuse stopped, pointed his ears over his head. 
As Tall Jim rode up alongside of the stranger there 
were a lot of horsemen coming down the road on a 
run, shooting like the devil. On they came, rode 
right up on Tall Jim and the stranger, told them 
to throw up their hands. At that moment they 
jumped off of their horses, caught the stranger and 
tied him on the worst horse in the country, took 
the bridle off of him and went to shooting, scaring 
the horse and rider to fits. Down the road they 
went, the horse trying to throw his rider. Old Tall 
Jim, Alabama Kid and the JH boys sat on their 
horses laughing, keeping a good space between 
them and the bucking horse and shooting to keep 
the horse going. The horse was nearly give out 
and just then the rope broke that was holding the 
stranger, and that scared the horse worse and he 
commenced to run, throwing the man off in the dusty 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


39 


road. Tall Jim and all the cowboys hurried to him, 
thinking they would find him dead. He was not 
dead, and when they rode up he got up and went 
to calling Tall Jim all kinds of names. 

“Well, stranger, have you had enough or do you 
want another ride?” asked Tall Jim quietly. 

“No more, you dirty devil; you have told me 
enough lies already,” answered the stranger in a 
burst of fury. 

“We just tried you out to see how green you 
are,” said Long Tom of the JH ranch. 

“You sucker, you better behave yourself or we’ll 
do worse than that; we’ll use you for a target if 
you don’t skip from here,” said Alabama Kid. 

“We haven’t got much use for movie picture fel- 
lers,” remarked one of the GIX boys. 

The stranger looked around fearfully. “I’ll have 
you all arrested,” he exclaimed. 

“Yes, you will,” said Tall Jim, coming up with 
the horse he had run down and roped; “and we’ll 
put you so full of holes you can’t count ’em. So 
now, Mr. Movie-man, you had better catch your 
train before it’s too late and go back and tell your 
New Yorkers how the Arizona cow punchers done 
you up.” 

“I’ll go,” he said, licking his lips. 

“Ha ! Ha !” laughed Long Tom ; “you will, will 
you ?” 

Tall Jim went over, got on his horse, took his 
rope, fixed a long loop, and threw the prettiest sev- 


40 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


enty-five-foot loop, and took Mr. Movie-man, jerked 
him up, threw him down, tied him good and threw 
him across his saddle, got on the little S — horse 
and told the other boys to follow down the street. 
They marched up to the depot just as the train was 
pulling out. Tall Jim took the stranger and put 
him on the last car. He watched the train till it 
was out of sight, then he turned and said to the 
other boys: 

“Do you know who he is?” 

“No,” said all the cowboys, eager to learn all 
Tall Jim knew about the stranger. 

He told them all he knew; all the boys nearly 
fainted laughing. 

“Well,” said Tall Jim after the boys quit laugh- 
ing, “I guess we had better hit the trail for home; 
think so, Kid?” 

“Yep !” said Alabama Kid. “I guess all the boys 
are home by now; it’s a good thing the sheriff is 
out of town or we’d get H .” 

“Well, good-by, boys; come down some time and 
we’ll have some more fun,” said Jim and Kid to the 
GIX boys. 

“All right,” answered Long Tom; “we will.” 

So both parties hit the trail for home. 


CHAPTER V 


When all the cowboys were home, they gave a 
big dance and barbecue at the home ranch. Bar- 
bara was as busy as a bee helping to decorate the 
big dining room ; the bell tolled for the home-coming 
of the round-up. 

Two days before the barbecue and dance, Barbara 
came running into the house, saying, “Oh! Granny, 
Dorothy is coming to see me and stay over for the 
Fourth of July. Won’t we have a good time?” 

“Dorothy? Who is she and where is she coming 
from?” asked the grandmother. 

“My room-mate at school, Granny,” said Bar- 
bara; “and she will be here to-morrow; she is com- 
ing from New York and her name is Dorothy Ray.” 

That night at the supper table Barbara told the 
cowboys about it. They all smiled and winked at 
each other and laughed up their sleeves; but Bar- 
bara told them that she was red-headed and had a 
temper like a wild cat. Next day Barbara went to 
the depot to meet Dorothy, when the train pulled 
up at the station. Dorothy jumped off and ran to 
meet Barbara; they threw their arms around each 
other and kissed. 


41 


42 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Oh! I am so glad you came,” said Barbara, smil- 
ing at Dorothy. 

“I am, too,” answered Dorothy, smiling back. 
“And I just know I’ll have the best time!” 

“Are you ready to go?” asked Barbara. “We’ll 
go home on horse-back.” 

“But I never rode a horse very much.” 

“It’s not hard to learn,” said Barbara; “and you 
can’t learn any younger.” 

“No, I guess not, and I’ll try.” 

“Come on, then ; let’s get on the road,” said Bar- 
bara, turning to go. 

Dorothy picked up her suit-case and followed 
down the street to the stables. They went in the 
long barn and got the stable boy, the “Gunning 
Kid,” as the cowboys call him, to saddle their horses. 
They didn’t have to wait very long before the “Gun- 
ning Kid” led out a keen long bay and a little buck- 
skin horse. 

“Oh, aren’t they beautiful!” exclaimed Dorothy. 

“Yes, they are,” answered Barbara. “I thought 
you could ride Pet — that’s the buckskin; he’s very 
gentle.” 

“I’ll try,” said Dorothy again. 

“All right,” said Barbara, turning to the grin- 
ning kid. “You bring Miss Ray’s suit-case out as 
soon as possible.” She turned and got on her horse, 
as Dorothy had already mounted, taking plenty of 
time. Pet wasn’t used to a side saddle, but he be- 
haved nicely. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


43 


“Well, we are off at last,” laughed Barbara. 
“Come on, let’s turn them loose; hold tight!” Bar- 
bara dug her spurs into her horse. Just the touch 
of her spurs and he was gone on a wild gallop, and 
Pet right alongside of him. 

“Good-by, Yuma,” said Barbara, kissing her 
finger tips and waving them toward Yuma. 

Dorothy laughed and said, “You’re the same old 
kid,” and in a little while they had left Yuma in 
the dust. As they galloped along, Dorothy asked, 
“Are there any cowboys there?” 

“Why, yes, there is one; all the rest has gone to 
Fortuna. They are having some horse racing and 
roping there,” returned Barbara. 

“Let’s hurry,” said Dorothy; “I am just dying 
to see one. I have never seen any in my life.” 

They came through the big gates just as the 
sun sank away in the west, coloring the valley 
like a rainbow, and the hill beyond were turning 
to a dark blue. They rode up in front of the 
house. 

“Here we are,” said Barbara, getting off her 
horse and helping Dorothy. “Gee! but you have 
rode good for the first time. Come in and let’s get 
some supper. I am just starved.” 

“I am too ; riding sure gives one an appetite, 
doesn’t it?” returned Dorothy. “I wish that fellow 
would hurry up with my suit-case.” 

“He’ll be here in a few minutes,” said Barbara, 
stepping up on the porch. “We will go into the 


44 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


house. I want you to meet my Uncle Jack and 
grandpa and grandma.” 

“All right,” said Dorothy, following Barbara into 
the house. 

Barbara introduced Dorothy to them and they 
talked a little while; then Barbara’s grandmother 
made them go into the dining room to their supper. 
While they were eating, Barbara said, “I hear the 
buggy coming and I’ll go out and get Uncle Jack 
to take your suit-cases up to your room, because 
I know how tired you are.” 

As she came back she met Dorothy coming out 
of the dining room. 

“Have you eaten your supper?” 

“Yes,” answered Dorothy. 

“But,” protested Barbara, “you haven’t eaten 
anything hardly.” 

“Yes I have; plenty, thank you,” said Dorothy. 
“Where is my room?” 

“I will show you,” said Barbara, starting up the 
stairs. Dorothy followed. “Here is your room,” 
said Barbara, throwing open a door. 

“All right, Barbara; good-night,” said Dorothy, 
smiling. 

“Good-night,” answered Barbara. “I hope you 
rest well.” 

“Thank you,” said Dorothy as she closed the door. 

So this was the first night for Dorothy at the 
Flying W ranch. 

Next morning when she woke up the sun was 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


45 


shining. She jumped out of bed and ran to the 
window and looked down into the garden. Barbara 
was already up and out in the garden gathering 
flowers. Dorothy dressed as fast as she could and 
went downstairs and out in the garden where Bar- 
bara was. 

“Good morning!” greeted Barbara in a cheery 
voice. 

“Good morning!” answered Dorothy. 

“How did you sleep last night?” asked Barbara. 

“Oh! I slept well; I never woke up once.” 

“I am glad you slept well,” answered Barbara 
as she went on cutting flowers. Clip, clip, clip, was 
the only sound that broke the silence. 

“Say, kid,” said Dorothy, “I want to see a cow- 
boy — a real cowboy.” 

“All right,” said Barbara; “you will see one at 
breakfast.” 

“I wish it was breakfast time now so I could see 
him. What does he look like?” asked Dorothy. 

“I couldn’t tell you,” said Barbara; “but come 
and let’s go in to breakfast. Uncle Jack has al- 
ready gone to work and grandma and grandpa don’t 
get up till nine o’clock.” Barbara picked up her 
basket of flowers and Dorothy followed her into 
the house. When they were sitting down to break- 
fast, Barbara said, “We always let the boys eat in 
the same room with us and there are about ten of 
the boys eat here all the time, so you don’t want to 
be bashful, because they’re not.” 


46 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“I am just dying to see a real cowboy,” said 
Dorothy. 

“Here comes somebody; that’s he,” said Barbara, 
rising from the table. 

Cyclone Will came in the room with his spurs 
and chaps on; he sat down next to Dorothy with- 
out taking his hat off. 

“Cyclone Will, meet Miss Ray from New York,” 
said Barbara. 

Cyclone Will just pulled his hat a little further 
over his eyes and looked sidewise at Dorothy. 

“Why, did I ever!” exclaimed Dorothy. “Mr. 
Cyclone Will ! Oh ! what a funny name,” and Dor- 
othy sank back in her chair in a fit of laughter. 

Cyclone Will never said anything; just sat and 
stared at Dorothy. Barbara was trying hard to 
keep back her laughter. Dorothy, seeing he was 
not laughing, sat up and went on eating her break- 
fast. 

“Do you like to be a cowboy?” she asked Cyclone. 

He never said anything. 

“Why, did I ever!” she exclaimed again. She 
passed him the bread; he took a piece; then he 
said, “Please pass the gravy, ma’am ; I want to soak 
my biscuit in it.” 

“Did I ever!” exclaimed Dorothy blushing. 

Barbara commenced laughing; she couldn’t keep 
from it. Dorothy sat back in her chair with her 
hands folded in her lap and looked from one to the 
other. Cyclone Will was busy with his breakfast. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


Vt 


He looked up at Dorothy and then at Barbara, and 
went to grinning, got up from his chair, hung up 
his hat and, turning to Dorothy, said: 

“Miss Ray, I am very glad to know you, and I 
hope you will have the time of your life while you 
stay with us, and I will try to help you and quit 
acting a fool.” 

Dorothy extended her hand and said, “I know I 
will have a good time, and I am very much pleased 
to meet you, Mr. Cyclone Will.” 

Cyclone Will and Dorothy shook hands and sat 
down to finish their breakfast. 

“Well,” said Barbara, “I am glad you like each 
other, and I hope you will be good friends.” 

“I am sure we will,” said Dorothy. 

“I am too,” said Cyclone Will. 

“Pass the gravy; I want to soak my biscuit in 
it,” and they all laughed. They had a good time 
at breakfast. , 

“Well, to-day’s the big time,” said Cyclone Will, 
rising from the table. “You girls get ready and 
we’ll go for a little ride before the crowd gets here.” 

“All right,” said Barbara. “I would like to have 
a little ride if Dorothy don’t mind.” 

“Oh, I don’t mind,” said Dorothy. “I would just 
love it. I would rather ride horse-back than do 
anything else.” 

“Well, we had better get ready while Will gets 
the horses.” 

“Yes,” said Cyclone Will; “I’ll get the horses as 


48 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


quick as I can and you hurry and we’ll get off early 
and have a long ride.” 

“Come on, Dot,” said Barbara; “let’s hurry.” 

“Sure,” said Dorothy. 

Cyclone Will got his hat and went out the door 
while Dorothy and Barbara went running up the 
stairs to don their riding skirts. When they came 
down they found Cyclone Will waiting for them. 
Dorothy went over and patted her horse on the 
nose. 

“Well, let’s be off,” said Cyclone Will. 

“All right,” said both girls as they got on their 
horses, and they all started down the road on a gal- 
lop, Dorothy and Barbara chatting like a bunch 
of chipmunks in a cage, and Cyclone Will enjoying 
it all and never letting his eyes wander away from 
Dorothy’s face, and every time he could catch her 
eye he would smile as sweetly as he could. Dorothy 
would look at Barbara to see if she was looking. 
Barbara would seem to be interested in something 
else, but taking it all in. 

“What is your real name?” asked Dorothy, speak- 
ing to Cyclone Will. 

“My real name? What you want to know for?” 
said Cyclone Will, smiling. 

“Oh, just because you are bound to have another 
name,” said Dorothy. 

“My real name is Will Dearing. When I first 
came here the boys got to telling jokes, and because 
I told so many they nicknamed me ‘Cyclone Will,’ 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


49 


and I have gone by that name ever since then,” said 
Cyclone Will. 

“You have a nice name,” said Dorothy. 

“Do you like it?” 

“Yes,” answered Dorothy. “But you’re nice any- 
way,” she added, turning her gray eyes square on 
him. 

“So are you,” said Cyclone Will, smiling at her. 

“You stop flirting,” interrupted Barbara, “be- 
cause here come all the boys.” 

The Flying W cowboys were coming up the road 
on a gallop, riding in twos. They rode up to them 
and said, “Hello! Traveling or going somewhere?” 

“We are just out for a ride,” said Cyclone Will. 
“Boys, this is Miss Ray from New York,” said 
Barbara, seeing the boys looking at her inquir- 
ingly. 

The cowboys took their hats off and bowed to 
Dorothy. Dorothy shook hands all around and told 
them she was glad to meet them. 

“Is the crowd coming,” asked Barbara, coming 
up to Curly who was in the lead, he and Tall Jim. 

“Yes,” answered Curly; “there is a big crowd 
coming from Yuma and Fortuna.” 

“Oh! I am so glad, and we are just going to have 
the best time,” said Barbara. “Say, Curly, can I 
ride with you? I left Cyclone Will and Dorothy 
behind.” 

Curly laughed and said, “Sure, you can ride 
with me.” 


50 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


Barbara said, “All right,” and rode up along- 
side of him. 

“What’s the matter with Cyclone Will?” asked 
Curly. 

“Oh, nothing,” said Barbara, laughing; “only he 
is dead gone on Dorothy.” 

“Does Dorothy or Miss Ray like him?” asked 
Curly. 

“Yes,” said Barbara; “she acts like it.” 

Curly looked back over his shoulder and laughed, 
but there was a strange light in his eyes. Barbara 
saw it and wondered what it was. 

When they got home there was a big crowd al- 
ready there having a good time. Curly and Bar- 
bara rode around to the barn and unsaddled their 
horses before Cyclone Will and Dorothy got there; 
the other cowboys had arrived a long time before, 
having ridden fast. 

“Come on, Dot; let’s go in the house and get 
something decent on before somebody else comes.” 

“All right,” said Dorothy as she took Barbara’s 
hand and, together, they ran in the house. When 
they were gone, Cyclone Will and Curly joined the 
other boys who were sitting in the corral smoking 
and talking. About that time a bunch of old ladies 
came up the drive talking and chatting. 

“There are your geese,” said Curly, putting his 
hands over his ears. 

“Gee-whiz ! Talk about geese,” remarked Cy- 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


51 


clone Will; “they would beat a bunch of these Injun 
runner ducks.” 

All the boys began laughing. When they were 
quiet, Tall Jim said, “Well, I guess this will be 
my last good time here, so I am going to enjoy it.” 

“Why, you’re not going to leave us?” said Long 
Tom of the GIX’s. 

“Yep,” said Tall Jim, laughing; “a poor man’s 
got as much chance making any money here as 
a celluloid dog chasing an asbestos cat through hell.” 

“You’re right,” said all the boys, laughing. 

“Where are you going?” asked Curly. 

“I don’t know, but I think I’ll go East for a 
while.” 

That day everybody had a good time; they had 
dinner under the palms in the garden and after 
dinner the young people played cards and games 
and the old people sat around and talked till sun- 
down. Then they had supper in the big dining hall 
and cleared it out and fixed for the dance. 

They danced all night’ till three o’clock in the 
morning. 

“I sure had a good time. I never went to a dance 
like that one in my life,” said Dorothy to Barbara 
as they went up to their rooms after the dance was 
over. 

“I did too,” said Barbara. 

“But I’m so tired,” returned Dorothy. 

“Tired! I should say I am,” exclaimed Barbara; 


52 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“and I know I can’t sleep, so what’s the use going 
to bed?” 

“Well, the bed is going to feel pretty good to 
me,” said Dorothy, laughing. 

Both girls went to bed. Dorothy went to sleep, 
but Barbara tossed and turned till dawn of day; 
then she fell into a troubled sleep and slept till late 
in the afternoon. When she awoke, Cyclone Will 
and Dorothy had just come in from a ride. Bar- 
bara dressed and went down, fixed herself some lunch 
and got a book, went out on the porch and laid down 
in the hammock. 

Dorothy, coming up to the house, said: “Curly 
was looking for you.” 

“What did he want?” asked Barbara. 

“He’s going to town and wants to know if you 
would like to go.” 

“Oh, well, I guess I can go,” sighed Barbara. 

“Sure, Girlie, get ready; it will do you good; it’s 
getting cool now and it will be lots of fun. Will 
and I just came from Double Wells; we brought 
some cows with little calves over; the cutest little 
things.” 

“Where is Curly,” asked Barbara. 

“Gone after the horses,” answered Dorothy. 
“You go get ready and I’ll tell him you are 
going.” 

“All right,” said Barbara as she made for the 
door. In about fifteen minutes Curly and Barbara 
were on their way into town. When they reached 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


53 


there, the first thing they saw was a big sign on 
the postoffice beside the door, “Big Masquerade 
Ball, June 2; Everybody Invited.” 

On the way home Barbara went to planning what 
she would dress like. They rode in silence for a 
long ways. 

“Say, Curly, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. I’ll dress 
as a cowboy and you can dress as a girl. You’re 
only about two inches taller than I and we’ll shock 
Yuma society. What do you say?” 

“All right,” said Curly; “but where will you get 
your clothes? You can’t we^r mine; they’ll be too 
big for you.” 

“Where will you get yours?” asked Barbara. 
Both laughed. 

“I’ll tell you what we’ll do ; you loan me your 
chaps, spurs, hat and shirt, and I’ll borrow Little 
Bill’s boots. You can get Kate Gardner to dress 
you up,” said Barbara. 

“Sure,” answered Curly ; “you know I never 
thought about her. Gee! but we’ll be a pair! But 
they’ll know you with my hat on.” 

“No they won’t; because nearly all the cowboys 
wear big hats like that one of yours. Gee ! you 
watch me now; I’ll swing them old girls around the 
corner,” said Barbara. 

“You’ll just about take all my girls away from 
me, kid,” said Curly. 

“You bet I will,” answered Barbara as they gal- 
loped into the corral. 


54 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“You bet you will what?” asked Tall Jim, coming 
up. 

“I can’t tell you that,” said Barbara, smiling at 
Curly; “it’s a secret, isn’t it, Curly?” 

Tall Jim just grinned at Curly and winked. 

“Say, Jim, there’s going to be a big masquerade 
ball in town the second.” 

“You must be sure and go,” said Barbara. 

“I am sorry, Barbara, but I got to catch the 
twelve o’clock train to-night,” returned Tall Jim. 

“Why, you are not going to leave, are you?” 
asked Barbara, surprised. 

“Yes,” said Tall Jim; “an uncle of mine died 
yesterday in New York and I got to go back.” 

“Well, I hate to see you go,” said Barbara. 

“I hate to go, because I like your uncle pretty 
well; he’s been awful white to me and Curly. Well, 
here comes the ‘Gunning Kid’ with my rig, so good- 
by, little girl, and good luck.” 

Barbara gave him her hand and he shook it and 
turned to Curly. 

“Good-by, Bud ; I hope you win.” 

“Good-by, Jim; I hope you get through with 
the old man’s estate,” replied Curly as he shook 
hands. 

Barbara and Curly started for the house and 
Tall Jim got in the hack and started down the 
road. Just as he went through the gate all the 
cowboys took a shot at the old buckboard. Barbara 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


55 


waved her hand at him just as they went out of 
sight; then she turned to Curly and asked, “What 
relation is he to you?” 

“He’s my brother; there is only him, my sister 
and me.” 

“You look something alike, only you’re better 
looking,” said Barbara. “What is your sister’s 
name?” 

“Annie.” 

“Where is Annie?” asked Barbara after a pause. 

“She is staying with my mother’s sister, Aunt 
Kate, in San Francisco; not in ’Frisco, but about 
eight miles down the beach. She’s been going to 
school in ’Frisco all last winter.” 

“You know, I thought you and Jim were brothers 
somehow ; I don’t know why, but you do look a whole 
lot alike; you’ve got brown eyes just the same. 
What’s your name?” 

“Vincent Edwards,” said Curly. “Supper is 
ready; I hear the bell ringing. Come on, kid, I am 
just starved.” 

“So am I,” said Barbara as she made for the 
dining room door. All the cowboys were at the 
table, talking and laughing, when Barbara and Curly 
came in. 

“Boys,” said Barbara, pushing Curly forward, “I 
want you to meet Tall Jim’s brother, Mr. Vincent 
Edwards, and Tall Jim’s real name is Jim Edwards.” 

All the boys knocked down chairs and ran over 


56 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


each other trying to shake hands with Curly. When 
they all got back to their chairs, Barbara came and 
took her seat beside Curly. 

“Say, I think your name is pretty, but I like 
Curly best. You don’t look like a Vincent; you 
look more like a Curly. I like plain old Curly best ; 
it suits you to a T,” said Barbara boldly. 

All the boys laughed and Curly just grinned. 

“Well,” said Barbara, “don’t he?” 

“Sure,” said Dorothy, smiling across the table 
at her, and all the boys were just roaring by this 
time and they all agreed with Barbara. Barbara 
told them about the mask ball and all the boys 
went to planning for a big time that night. 


CHAPTER VI 

When Barbara and Dorothy were going to bed, 
Dorothy asked: 

“Say, Barbara, what are you going to dress 
like?” 

“Oh, wait and see,” answered Barbara. 

“Why, I don’t care,” said Dorothy. “I’ll not tell 
you what I am going to dress like either.” 

“Say, kid, you can get grandma to fix you up; 
she knows lots of ways, and we won’t tell each 
other how we are going to dress ; it will be lots of 
fun, don’t you think so?” said Barbara. 

“Of course. Gee, kid, but we will have a hog- 
killing time,” answered Dorothy. Dorothy had 
learned all of the cowboys’ slang since she had been 
on the Flying W Ranch and used it lots. The sec- 
ond came at last. Barbara and Curly left early 
that evening for town, so they could get ready ; they 
had their clothes at Kate Gardner’s. When they 
came in the hall there was a big crowd already there. 

“Gee!” said Curly in Barbara’s ear, “but you 
sure look swell.” 

“So do you,” said Barbara. 

57 


58 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“You watch them old boys; they’ll think they 
have some pretty girl.” 

And when they take off their masks we will have 
a grand old laugh,” said Curly. 

“Yes, don’t get me to laughing, for goodness’ 
sake,” answered Barbara. 

The music started up and all the boys started for 
a partner. Old Buck got Curly and just swung him 
around and around. Barbara stood up in the cor- 
ner, but she noticed that all the people were looking 
at her. “I got to dance next time, sure,” she said 
to herself. When the dance was ended she noticed 
that a man dressed as the devil and a girl dressed 
as Cinderella stood near her. 

“I’ll bet that’s Dot,” she said to herself. They 
took a seat by her and she got up and went down 
where old Curly was sitting. 

“Say, kid, I’ll bet you’re not game to smoke a 
cigarette,” said Curly in her ear. 

Barbara just looked at him, put her hand in her 
pocket and drew out the makings, rolled one and 
lit it and puffed away. The floor manager called a 
two-step and Barbara waited till Curly got a part- 
ner and went and got the girl dressed as Cinderella. 
As she got about half way around she whispered in 
the girl’s ear, “I’ll tell you who I am if you will tell 
me who you are.” 

The girl looked up at her and said, “Dot,” and 
Barbara said, “That’s who I thought you were. 
You are visiting Barbara Deen, aren’t you?” 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


59 


“How do you know?” said Cinderella. 

“Why she and I are good friends, and she was 
telling me about you,” added Barbara. 

“What is your name,” asked the fair Cinderella. 

“Bog Sayers,” answered Barbara. “Now I hope 
you think we are acquainted.” 

“Sure,” said Cinderella, trying to keep back her 
laughter. 

“I am thirsty, aren’t you?” said Bob. 

“Yes,” answered Cinderella. 

“Come, let’s get a drink,” said Bob. 

A great stone jar of cool water hung outside and 
tin cups nearby. He dipped the cup in the jar 
and drew it forth full, passed it to Dot. 

“Thank you,” she said, as she passed the cup 
back. 

“Not at all,” answered Bob; “I am glad to be of 
some service to a girl as sweet as you.” 

Dorothy’s head went a little higher as she ex- 
claimed, “The very idea ! What do you mean, 
pray?” 

“I am not ashamed of it; I have fallen in love 
with you, even if I haven’t seen your face,” said 
Bob. 

She laughed and said, “Well, I am not dead gone 
on you, that’s a fact.” 

“Oh, you just wait a while, please,” said he squeez- 
ing her hand. “May I call on you, say next Sun- 
day?” 

“Why, I guess so,” said Dorothy as she hastily 


60 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


withdrew her hand just as they stepped inside 
the door of the hall. They danced till twelve o’clock 
and then everybody was startled by the call, “Masks 
off.” A crowd had got to the upper end of the hall, 
right in front of the musicians. 

“You watch that fellow dressed like the devil. 
He’s been trying to make love to me for half an 
hour,” said somebody in Barbara’s ear. Looking 
up, she saw Curly. 

“All right; watch Dot. See if you can see her. 
There she is ; she is coming up here.” 

Dorothy had her mask in her hand and was com- 
ing through the crowd to where they were standing. 

“Masks off,” she said. 

“All right,” answered Barbara, and untied her’s 
as Curly pulled his off and a lot of false hair. 

“Why, Barbara!” exclaimed Dorothy. “You 
mean old thing!” 

“What’s the matter?” answered Barbara. 

“Oh, nothing; only I wouldn’t have known you 
in a year, and here is Curly too,” she said. “Of 
all the surprise parties ! I’ll bet you get the prize.” 

“Don’t be so sure of it. Your pal like to fell 
through the floor when he found out who I was,” 
answered Curly. 

“Oh, is that so?” said Dorothy; “but what do I 
care !” 

“Yes, I am coming up to see you next Sunday,” 
put in Barbara. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


61 


“ I guess not,” returned Dorothy, walking off. 

“Prizes won by Miss Barbara Dean and Mr. Curly 
Edwards,” announced the floor manager, coming up 
to Curly and Barbara with two bundles wrapped in 
brown paper. 

“Gee, but you sure put one over on me,” he re- 
marked, smiling at them. “I didn’t know either 
one of you.” 

Barbara opened the package given to her and 
took out a silver brush and comb set, and Curly 
got a shaving set. 

“Pretty, aren’t they?” said Curly; “but we ought 
to swap.” 

“I guess not,” returned Barbara. 

The dance broke up at three o’clock and every- 
body went home. 

“I thought about dressing that way,” said Ida 
Greek, Yuma’s society belle, to her mother on the 
way home. 

“But, Ida, you wouldn’t have dressed like that, 
would you? It’s awful.” 

“Awful, pooh!” answered Ida. “She looked all 
right, but she sure is flying at old Curly. I had 
him before she came. I’ll show the hussy; just you 
wait.” These last words were said through set 
teeth. 

Next morning Barbara’s uncle called her into his 
room and shut the door. 

“Be seated,” he said coolly. 


62 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


Barbara knew something was going to happen. 
She sat down very straight on the edge of a nearby 
chair. 

“Now, young lady, I want you to please explain 
about that costume you wore last night to the 
dance.” 

“Why, I just dressed as a cowboy and Curly 
dressed like a girl, that’s all there was to it,” an- 
swered Barbara. 

“But what will your grandmother and grandfather 
say when they hear about it?” asked Jack Clark. 

“Now look here, Uncle Jack, I asked grandma 
and grandpa before I went to get ready if I could 
dress like that and they said they didn’t care, and 
I don’t think you should,” answered Barbara crossly. 
She was standing with her hand on the door knob 
now, and her eyes showed she wasn’t pleased at all. 

“Well, don’t you ever do it again,” said Uncle 
Jack, rising too. 

“I will if grandma and grandpa say I can,” she 
called back as she passed out the door. When she 
got to the top of the stairs she called back, “Uncle, 
I can take care of myself, and if I find I can’t, I’ll 
call on you, but not before.” As she went down 
the stairs she met her grandpa coming out of the 
dining room with a pitcher of hot water. 

“What’s the matter, Grandpa?” she asked, sur- 
prised. 

“Your grandmother’s sick, Baby,” the old man 
answered. “Come up to the room and see her.” 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


63 


“Why, I certainly will, Grandpa,” said Barbara 
as she followed her grandfather up the stairs. As 
they came into the room a low, sweet voice said, 
“That you, Baby?” 

“Yes, Granny,” answered Barbara as she dropped 
on her knees by the bedside. “Oh ! Granny, I am 
so sorry you’re sick,” said Barbara, throwing her 
arms around her grandmother’s neck. 

“But I’ll hurry up and get well so my little girl 
can go to the Fourth of July celebration. Yes, 
Grandma will,” she said, patting Barbara’s shoulder. 
Barbara was crying softly. “There, there, don’t 
cry honey,” cooed the grandmother. “I’ll be all 
right; just you wait, dear, I’ll go to the big time 
too. Now go out and see to your company’s com- 
fort.” 

“Yes,” put in the old man, “I met Dorothy down 
in the hall looking for you as I went down.” 

Barbara turned toward the door, brushing the 
tears out of her eyes. 

“Come back after a while and tell me about the 
dance,” called the grandmother. 

As Barbara went through the door out into the 
hall she met Dorothy coming in the front door. 

“What’s the matter?” she asked as she saw Bar- 
bara. 

“Oh, nothing! Granny’s sick; it’s not anything,” 
she added, noting the look on Dorothy’s face. “She 
has spells like that every once in a while; she will 
be all right by to-morrow. Say, kid, they are going 


64 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


to have a big time in Yuma the 4th; we will sure 
have a good time.” 

“You bet we will,” answered Dorothy. 

After dinner Barbara went up to her grand- 
mother’s room. She found her sitting in her big 
arm chair by the window. 

“Come here, Barbara,” her grandmother said, 
“and tell me about the dance last night. Did you 
have a good time?” 

“Yes, Granny,” answered Barbara, “I did; but 
Uncle Jack went and spoiled it all.” 

“What was the matter with Uncle Jack?” asked 
the grandmother. 

“He didn’t like the way I dressed,” said Barbara. 

“Did you tell him that I told you I didn’t care if 
you dressed like that?” 

“I did, Grandmother,” answered Barbara; “but 
he didn’t like it just the same.” 

Mrs. Clark smiled, and in her old eyes came a 
strange light. “Well, a long time ago, Baby,” she 
said as she put her arm around the girl, “I had a 
beau by the name of Jack Fleming. He worked on 
the railroad; he was killed just before your grand- 
father and I were married, but I was just sixteen 
— just your age, honey — when we lived in a little 
railroad town. They had a mask ball and I didn’t 
know how I was going to dress; so one evening this 
boy came up to the house and I asked him. He 
said he w r ould loan me his clothes and I could dress 
like a fireman. I thought he was joking and turned 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


65 


it off with a laugh; but the day before the dance he 
brought me his clothes and a mask. I asked my 
mother about it, and she said she didn’t care, so I 
went.” 

“Dressed like that?” asked Barbara, smiling. 

“Yes, dear, and struck a match on the seat of my 
breeches and lit a pipe and smoked it in the dance 
hall.” 

“Oh, Granny, you didn’t do that?” said Barbara, 
smiling as she kissed her grandmother; “and say. 
Granny, Uncle Jack will get over this in a little 
while, don’t you think so? He said people would 
talk; do you think they will?” asked Barbara 
anxiously. 

“No, dear,” answered her grandmother, “I don’t. 
Nobody talked about me. But they were different 
in those day. Nobody knew me.” 

“They didn’t me, either,” said Barbara, “and I 
got the prize too. I want to show it to you,” she 
said as she ran through the door and into her room 
to get it. She came back all smiles with the box 
in her hand. As she came to the window where 
her grandmother was she opened it to display her 
treasure. 

“Aren’t they pretty, Granny?” she asked breath- 
lessly. 

“Sure, they are, my dear ; take good care of them,” 
said Grandmother, smiling. 

“And we are sure going to the big time the Fourth 
of July?” 


66 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“You bet we are, dear; I want to see my little 
girl made the champion woman rider of the West. 
Your mother always wanted to be the champion 
rider, but she did not live long enough.” 

“It seems like I get every thing she wanted,” said 
Barbara, her face suddenly growing thoughtful. “I 
am going to ride against a girl from San Francisco.” 

“All right, dear; run on and see where Dorothy 
is. I’ll bet she’s lonesome; I ought not have kept 
you so long.” 

“She went out riding with Will,” answered Bar- 
bara. 

“But you can go now; I want to rest a while 
before your grand-dad comes. He said he would be 
up at five o’clock. Good-by, dear; be a good girl.” 

“Good-by, Granny. I’ll be as good as I know 
how,” said Barbara, smiling as she went out and 
closed the door softly. 

Barbara went to bed early after supper. Cyclone 
Will and Dorothy got the old banjo and strung it 
up, Will playing and singing out in the garden. 
Curly went up to Mrs. Clark’s room to see if Bar- 
bara was up there. He exchanged greetings with 
her and talked a while and went to bed too, because 
Barbara wasn’t there to sit up with him. Barbara 
heard Dorothy coming up the stairs and go in her 
room. She dozed off, but woke up; the lamp was 
still burning in Dorothy’s room. “Writing letters, 
I suppose,” she murmured as she turned over and 
pillowed her head on her arm and went to sleep. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


67 


Between then and the Fourth of July, Barbara was 
practicing riding all the time, and only Dorothy and 
Cyclone Will went with her every day. She rode 
all the new horses but one, a little SS dun horse 
that the cowboys called “Outlaw” because he was 
so mean. Barbara was going to ride him the 4th. 

At last the 4th came. Hot ! Gee-whiz, the lizards 
had to walk on their tails or roast, and such a crowd ! 
The streets of the little Western town were crowded 
with farmers, cow punchers, cattlemen, outlaws and 
Mexicans. They were going to have the riding 
early that morning at nine o’clock. All the Flying 
W boys were there by six o’clock that morning. 
Barbara, Dorothy, Curly and Cyclone Will rode 
in about seven ; everybody greeted them with cheers. 
They rode up in front of the hotel; the girls dis- 
mounted and gave the boys their horses. 

“We’ll be back in about half an hour,” they said 
as they started down the street on a gallop for the 
stables. 

Did you ever try to picture a little Western town 
on the Fourth of July, with the stars and stripes 
hanging from every building and all the noise? Not 
firecrackers, bombs and such as that, but good old 
forty-five Colts and old cap in ball six guns, some 
as old as the hills, and that’s all they had for noise, 
and they let them speak aplenty. Nearly every 
man in the country carried a gun with him. Yumo 
in July is as hot as hell. You just can see the 
heat. Barbara and Dorothy went up on the little 


68 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


front porch of the hotel and sat down. At the 
other end of the porch a girl and a man were sitting, 
and when they saw Barbara and Dorothy they rose 
and came down where they were. The girl walked 
up and introduced herself to Barbara as Miss Irene 
Hase. 

“I think you are the girl I am to ride against 
this morning, are you not?” she said in a musical 
voice. 

“Yes, ma’am,” answered Barbara as she turned 
to introduce Dorothy. “Miss Ray from New York, 
Miss Hase,” Barbara found herself saying. They 
bowed, and then Miss Hase turned and introduced 
Mr. Hase, her brother, a tall, dark young man 
dressed in a khaki suit like his sister’s. 

“That girl is pretty,” remarked the boy as they 
turned to go back where they were sitting. 

“Which one?” asked his sister. 

“The blond,” answered the boy. 

“Well, I think both are beautiful,” said his sister, 
sitting down. “Those old boys in ’Frisco would go 
crazy over either one.” And they were pretty as 
wild roses fresh with dew in the summer morning. 
Both were dressed in riding skirts and white silk 
shirtwaists, big red silk handkerchiefs around their 
pretty white throats, and boots and spurs and cow- 
boy hats. Miss Hase wore a tight riding suit and 
carried a whip in her hand. Curly and Will kept 
their promise; in about half an hour they came 
back. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


69 


“Come on, it’s about time we were getting down 
there.” They all started down the street, Cyclone 
Will and Dorothy in the lead and Barbara and Curly 
walking behind. Barbara carried a big red rose 
in her hand. She turned to Curly and said, “Will 
you keep this for me?” 

“Yes, if you will pin it on me,” answered Curly 
all smiles. 

“Sure I will,” said Barbara as she took a pin and 
pinned the rose on his shirt pocket. As she was 
pinning it on him, Ida Creek came sailing by. She 
barely spoke, and passed on. 

“Gee, she gave me a look that would pickle prairie 
dogs. You better not give her that rose or there’ll 
be some black hair flying around Yuma,” said Bar- 
bara to Curly, laughing. 

“That’s what I am going to do,” said Curly, 
teasing. “Why don’t you like her, Barbara?” 

“I never had anything against her,” returned 
Barbara. “She just don’t like me, that’s all.” 

“Well, we can’t help that because she’s Indian, 
but I think I know what’s the matter. I used to 
go with her before you came ; she turned me down 
for old Buck, so I didn’t have anything to do with 
her after that. She tried to -make up with me, but 
I wouldn’t, so you see how it was.” 

“Well, that explains everything; I see why she’s 
mad at me.” 

“You don’t care, do you?” asked Curly. 

“Yes, I do,” she answered without looking up. 


70 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“I am going right and tell her it’s not my fault, 
and she can have you for all I care. I don’t like 
people to be mad at me.” 

“Barbara! You don’t mean that?” cried Curly 
in a low voice. 

Barbara looked up at him and, turning away with 
a nervous little laugh, said, “I don’t tell lies, Curly 
Edwards, and I am sure going to tell her as soon 
as I get the chance.” 

“Oh, well, I don’t care either,” returned Curly. 

Barbara felt like she wanted to run ; she could 
feel Curly’s eyes, and every time she would look 
up it seemed like he was searching her for some- 
thing. He would stare her so straight in the eyes. 
She got so she wouldn’t even look at him. 

As they went on down the street they met little 
groups of boys and girls talking, and they would 
have to stop and shake hands all around, so by the 
time they got to where they were going to have the 
riding contest nearly all the crowd was there, wait- 
ing. Barbara saw that Cyclone Will and Dot were 
talking to the tall dark boy and his sister. 

“Gosh, I wish my pants would fit me like his do,” 
Barbara heard someone remark behind her. Turn- 
ing around a cry of surprise rose to her lips as 
she saw Tall Jim. 

“Why, Tall Jim ! Of all persons !” she exclaimed 
as she put out her hand. He shook it limp and 
then shook hands with Curly. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


71 


“Say, Bud, you put one over us all; didn’t ex- 
pect you back so soon,” said Curly. 

“You could let us know you were coming,” said 
Barbara. 

“Why, I wouldn’t miss this for all the money there 
is, and I thought I would surprise you. How did 
the mask ball turn out?” asked Tall Jim. 

“Oh, fine,” said Barbara, smiling up at Curly. 

“How did your fortune hunt turn out?” asked 
Curly. 

“I’ll tell you about it later,” answered Tall Jim. 

Barbara turned away; she thought that wasn’t 
any of her business, so she didn’t want to seem in- 
terested at all, even if she was. 

About that time Uncle Bill, as all the cow punch- 
ers called him, came over to where they were. He 
was going to judge the riding; he was supposed to 
be the best rider in Arizona. 

“Miss Dean,” he said to Barbara, “we are waiting 
for you.” 

“Where is my horse?” asked Barbara. 

“We have sent for him. That’s the horse Miss 
Hase is going to ride ; that keen long bay,” he said, 
nodding toward a horse hitched to a post not far 
from them. 

About that time the “Gunning Kid” came up with 
her horse, the little SS dun. Barbara thanked him, 
took the reins from his hand, flashed a smile on 
Curly and Tall Jim and walked over to where Miss 


72 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


Hase, Dorothy and Cyclone Will were standing. 

As she walked across the place cleared for the 
riding the cow punchers commenced shooting, and 
every time they would shoot the little SS dun would 
jump. 

“Say, Baby, aren’t you nervous?” asked Dorothy. 

“No,” answered Barbara. 

“When does he want us to start?” asked Miss 
Hase. 

“Ask him,” responded Cyclone Will. 

“Say, Uncle Bill, are you ready? Do you want 
us to start now?” called Barbara. 

It wasn’t Uncle Bill that answered her; it was 
the crowd. “Yes,” they yelled. 

“Get on, Barbara; we are betting on you,” yelled 
out someone. Barbara said nothing, led the little 
old wall-eyed SS dun out into the middle of the 
ring. She swung into the saddle and shot her spurs 
home. The horse reared in the air; Barbara came 
down across his rump with her rawhide quirt, and up 
and down, up and down they went. The crowd was 
yelling like mad. The little SS dun kept it up for 
about half an hour, then he stopped deadstill. Bar- 
bara dismounted and left the bridle reins over his 
head, walked out half a dozen steps and held out 
her hand; the horse, supposed to be one of the out- 
laws of the country, came up to her and rubbed his 
nose in the palm of her hand as if to say, “You 
have won, but no one else will.” 

Barbara took the reins and led him over to where 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


73 


Uncle Bill was standing. “It’s Miss Hase’s time 
now,” he said; “you done well, Miss Dean; you are 
sure a good rider. I never saw any girl sit her 
horse like you do,” he said as she approached him. 

Barbara smiled and said, “Thank you, Uncle Bill, 
but it’s not over.” 

“You bet it’s not,” answered Uncle Bill. 

Miss Hase led her horse out in the ring and swung 
in the saddle; she spurred and whipped, but the 
horse wouldn’t do anything but jump a little. The 
crowd was laughing now. Miss Hase dismounted 
and led her horse over to where Uncle Bill was 
standing. 

“What seems to be the matter?” he asked with a 
smile on his sun-tanned face. She came up to him. 

“Why, he’s used to it, I guess,” returned Miss 
Hase. “I guess the boys broke him.” 

“Well, I guess so,” said Uncle Bill, smiling. “Do 
you want to ride some more?” 

“Yes, I want to ride Miss Dean’s horse, if she 
will let me.” 

“Ask her,” said Miss Hase to Uncle Bill. 

He walked over to where Barbara and Curly were 
sitting cross-legged on the sand, talking. 

“Well, Miss Dean,” said Uncle Bill, “looks like 
you’re going to win the championship.” 

“Seems like it,” returned Barbara. 

“Miss Hase wants to ride your horse; can she?” 
asked Uncle Bill. 

“Sure,” said Barbara; “tell her to go to it.” 


74 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


Miss Hase took the little SS dun and swung into 
the saddle. Up he went, right in the air; every 
time he would go up you could see the sky between 
his belly and the ground; then all at once he sat 
right down on his haunches and Miss Hase slid right 
out of the saddle on the sand; the horse got up and 
started off on a run. Barbara, Uncle Bill and Miss 
Hase’s brother started to where Miss Hase lay on 
the sand, expecting to find her hurt. Just as they 
got there she sat up and looked up smiling; she 
turned around to Barbara and said: 

“Well, I guess you have beat me; you are the 
last rider and the championship belongs to you any- 
way.” They helped her up. 

“I am sorry,” said Barbara; “will you shake 
hands?” 

“You needn’t,” returned Miss Hase. 

The crowd was packing in a ring around them; 
everybody shook hands with Barbara. Curly came 
through the crowd, leading the little dun horse. 

“Say, Barbara,” he said, “Tall Jim and Long 
Tom have got another horse they want you to break 
for them,” lighting a cigarette and flipping the 
match away in the sand. 

“All right,” said Barbara, laughing; “tell them 
to clear this crowd out and stop some of this shoot- 
ing and bring him here. I’ll ride him.” 

Curly turned to Uncle Bill : “Say, Uncle Bill, 
Barbara is going to ride Midnight for Long Tom; 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


75 


he’s a GIX horse, and get ready for some good 
riding too, I’ll tell you,” he said as he walked off 
still leading the little dun horse and returning with 
a big black GIX horse. As the crowd of cow 
punchers saw the black horse their eyes opened wide 
and they smiled and stood back to give some room. 
The crowd was yelling like mad, but now they grew 
quiet and Barbara, turning around, saw her Uncle 
Jack’s buckboard with her grandmother and grand- 
father and Uncle Jack sitting in it. She waved her 
hand to them and jumped on the snorting, rearing 
black horse. She came down on him with her quirt 
and up he went. The crowd was shouting and yell- 
ing like the devil. Barbara rode the black horse 
till he stopped. She got off and led him over to 
where Curly and Uncle Bill stood. 

“Well,” she said, “I guess I’m through.” 

“No you ain’t,” said Curly; “listen.” 

Barbara did listen; she heard the crowd, “Ride 
that dun again,” they yelled. 

“Well, I guess I’ll have to,” she said as she 
jumped on the little SS dun, and he started out on 
an easy gallop around and around the ring. A little 
ways from Curly stood Miss Hase and her brother. 

“You know I fell like a fool here,” she was saying. 

“Miss Dean can sure rid,” remarked her brother; 
“look how gracefully she sits her horse.” 

“I know,” said his sister sadly, her eyes follow- 
ing Barbara as she rode around the ring. 


76 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“She is a girl of the West,” said Mr. Hase. “I 
don’t know whether you will get me home or not,” 
he said smiling. 

“Oh, she’s got a better-looking fellow than you 
are,” remarked Miss Hase, laughing at him. “I 
heard her call him Curly, this tall brown-eyed boy 
right by us,” she whispered. 

Curly heard this conversation though he didn’t 
act like it. 

“Well, that little old wall-eyed SS dun sure must 
have fallen in love with you if he stands all that,” 
said Curly to Barbara as she rode up in front of 
him, her eyes snapping and her cheeks rosy. 

She jumped off and said, “He’s mine to ride after 
this.” 

“Well, he’s not the only one that’s in love with 
you,” said Curly, looking down at her from his six 
feet and one inch in height. 

She looked up, but something in his eyes fired 
her blood and she looked away and said, “You ride 
him and see if he will fall in love with you.” 

“All right, I will, as you ask me to,” he said, 
throwing the reins over the horse’s head and going 
around to the side. The horse knew what was go- 
ing to happen, so amid jumps and snorts from the 
little dun, Curly mounted, sent his spurs home and 
the horse plunged in the air ; he put his ears back til] 
they looked like they were glued to his head. Curly 
just sat there smiling with arms folded; the reins 
hung loose over the saddle to give the horse all the 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


77 


head he wanted. But all at once he felt something 
slip and he guessed what had happened. The girth 
had broken and the saddle was turning. He grabbed 
the reins, trying to stop the horse, but as he pulled 
on the reins the horse reared back and fell, with 
Curly under him. The crowd rushed to where the 
mass of wriggling legs were, but Tall Jim and Bar- 
bara were the first ones there. Tall Jim got the 
horse off of Curly, but was too late. One of his 
legs caught under him and the bone was broken just 
below the knee. 

Tall Jim and Cyclone Will carried the uncon- 
scious form of Curly out of the ring and up the street 
to the hotel, Barbara following. They summoned 
a doctor at once. He worked with Curly for about 
two hours till he fell into a natural sleep. 

While the doctor was busy with Curly, Tall Jim 
and Barbara were waiting in the next room, Tall 
Jim smoking many cigarettes and Barbara, with her 
chin in the palm of her hand, sat gazing off into 
space. 

“Well, what do you think about it?” asked Tall 
Jim quietly. 

“I wish that doctor would come and let us know 
whether he’s hurt badly or not,” said Barbara, turn- 
ing her blue eyes square on Jim. 

“How did he come to ride that horse anyway?” 
asked Tall Jim. 

“Now, Jim, I’ll tell you if you will give me time,” 
said Barbara. 


78 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Well, spit it out,” returned Tall Jim. 

“You know when I rode that dun horse the last 
time I came up in front of him and he told me the 
horse must have fallen in love with me, and said 
that the horse wasn’t the only one that loved me. 
Well, I told him to see if the horse would fall in 
love with him.” 

Tall Jim didn’t interrupt her; he waited till she 
was through talking, and then he threw back his 
head and laughed. 

“Well, I don’t see anything to laugh about,” re- 
turned Barbara hotly. 

“Nor do I,” said Tall Jim; “but anybody could 
see that Curly was in love with you, not to say any- 
thing about the other boys.” 

“Silly,” said Barbara, mockingly. She came 
close to him and put her hand on his arm. “I love 
him too, and I don’t want him to know; you won’t 
tell him, will you?” There was a note of pleading 
in her voice. He didn’t say anything, so she went 
on, “I have read that girls don’t know what love is 
when they’re my age; do you believe it?” she asked. 

“Nonsense,” retorted Jim; “don’t let anybody tell 
you such things, because a girl your age not only 
can love and know what it means, but she can love 
dangerously, and boys the same. Some day, Bar- 
bara,” he said, “I’ll tell you why I never married. 
I am thirty years old and Curly is only nineteen. 
He’s a good kid and always was; our mother died 
when my sister, Annie, was only three weeks old. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


79 


Well, it wasn’t long after that till dad flew the 
coop, too, and Aunt Kate took us kids. We stayed 
with her till Curly was seventeen. I wanted to punch 
cattle and Curly did too. I never liked Aunt Kate 
because she was too cranky, so me and Curly skipped. 
We came to Arizona and we’ve been here ever since. 
I love Arizona better than any state in the United 
States.” 

He paused, and Barbara asked, “Who was your 
girl ?” 

“Her name was Mabel Fisher, and she was a fisher 
too, I’ll tell you. Here is her picture,” he said as 
he put his hand in his shirt pocket and drew out a 
small-sized photo. 

Barbara took the picture and, as she looked, 
she caught her breath — the face in the picture smiled 
up at her. She turned it over and looked on the 
other side, “To the man I love — Mabel,” she read. 

“Oh!” she said as she passed it back to Jim. 
“Where is she now?” 

Tall Jim paid no heed ; he was gazing at the pic- 
ture. “The prettiest little black-headed, blue-eyed 
girl that ever was; she was just like one of these 
little summer apples, just pink and white and, like 
most of them, rotten to the core; but she’s gone 
now.” 

Barbara, seeing his eyes fill with tears, went out 
and closed the door softly. She met the doctor com- 
ing out of the room where Curly was. 

“Can I do anything, Doctor?” she asked. 


80 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


“Why, er — yes,” said the doctor.- “I have got 
another case, so you can come and sit by him, and 
when he wakes up you can give him some water.” 
The doctor turned and went down the stairs, and 
Barbara went in the room where Curly lay; she 
tiptoed across the room to a cracked looking glass 
hanging on the wall, fixed her hair and sat down. 
She sat there for a long time staring at the bed, 
then she went to the window that looked over the 
Western plains. 


CHAPTER VII 


When Curly woke up it was late in the afternoon ; 
a stream of sunlight came through the room and 
seemed to come from the western window. He 
turned his face toward the sunlit window; as he did 
so, he saw someone standing there with her back 
toward him; the setting sun was casting its golden 
light over the town. Though the sun hurt his eyes, 
he made out the form of a woman standing motion- 
less ; the sun made her hair look like bronze and gold. 

“Barbara,” he said huskily. She turned and 
walked across the room and knelt down by the bed. 

“Don’t cry,” he whispered, “don’t cry; it was 
my fault.” 

“No, it wasn’t,” said Barbara. “I knew that 
girth was loose. I ought to have told you, but it 
all happened so quickly.” 

“That’s all right; we’ll forget the past if you 
will tell me you love me.” 

“I do,” whispered Barbara; “I do, Curly. I have 
ever since I first met you.” 

“You have what?” asked Curly. 

“Loved you,” murmured Barbara. 

81 


82 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


But he read it more in the movements of her red 
lips than heard it. He slipped his arm around her 
shoulders and drew her face down to his; their lips 
met, the first kiss that ever was pressed on Barbara 
Dean’s pure lips. 

“When I get well we will be married, Barbara,” 
Curly told her, looking deep into her eyes. Barbara 
laid her head down by his; Tall Jim opened the 
door and, coming in, found them. Curly started. 

“It’s all right,” said Barbara; “he knows.” 

“Your grandmother wants to see you,” said Tall 
Jim to Barbara. She arose and started for the 
door. She paused at the door and looked back 
smiling, her eyes shining like stars. She closed the 
door and went down the stairs ; she found her grand- 
mother, Dorothy and Cyclone Will. 

“Well, how is he?” asked Will. 

“Oh, he’s doing as well as could be expected. I 
left Tall Jim with him,” answered Barbara. 

“I have got to get home,” said her grandmother, 
coming up to her; “and I am so glad Curly is not 
badly hurt.” 

Barbara kissed her grandmother and watched her 
as she went out the door. Mrs. Clark called back 
from the door, “When will you all be home?” 

“To-night, Granny,” said Barbara. A few min- 
utes later she saw her grandmother get in the buck- 
board and watched her uncle drive away; then she 
turned back to Dorothy and Cyclone Will. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


83 


“How did the races and goat-roping turn out?” 
she asked, walking across the room and sitting down 
in a chair facing them. 

“Oh, fine!” said Dorothy. “Why, Baby, I had 
the best time, but of course we missed you and Curly, 
and we didn’t see Tall Jim.” 

“He was helping the doctor,” said Barbara. 

“Well, I guess if you girls are going to the dance 
we had better get some supper; let’s go down to the 
barbecue tables ; the crowd is eating supper by now,” 
said Will, rising from his chair. 

“Thank you, Will,” said Barbara, “but I have 
told the cook to fix my supper for me. You and 
Dorothy go on and eat; I’ll see you later in the 
evening.” 

“Why, Barbara!” exclaimed Dorothy, “can’t you 
go with us?” 

“No, Dot; I’ve got to play nurse till the nurse 
that the doctor engaged comes; she will be here 
by seven, I guess,” answered Barbara. 

“Oh, I see,” said Dorothy, and, turning to Cy- 
clone Will, she said: “You go and bring three plates 
for yourself, Barbara and me; we’ll wait with Bar- 
bara.” 

Cyclone Will said nothing; he put on his hat 
and strode out of the house, down the street. 

“Now, Star Eyes, I am going to tell you some- 
thing I guessed,” said Dorothy, turning to Barbara, 
putting her arm on the younger girl’s shoulders. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


84 


“Why, Dot; what do you mean?” exclaimed Bar- 
bara. 

“Only this,” said Dorothy, holding up her left 
hand. On the third finger there shone a little gold 
ring set with a diamond. 

Barbara looked at the sparkling object, then she 
looked at Dorothy. “Oh, Dot, I am so glad,” she 
said. 

“So am I,” said Dorothy as she kissed the ring. 

“And what did you guess?” asked Barbara. 

“Why, Curly and you, of course. I could tell by 
your face, and I want to congratulate you, Baby, 
because he’s worthy of you.” 

They said nothing for a long time, but sat gazing 
into each other’s eyes and then their lips met. Each 
understood. Cyclone Will, coming in when it hap- 
pened, smiled ; he had guessed too. 

When Barbara left, Curly grinned up at his 
brother Jim. Tall Jim walked over to the bedside 
and put forth his hand and said: 

“Put it here, Bud; put it here.” 

Curly took his brother’s hand and looked into his 
brother’s honest brown eyes and knew he under- 
stood. Tall Jim pulled up a chair and sat down 
by the bed. 

“Well, kid, you can offer her a name and you 
don’t have to work for anyone else; you can work 
for yourself and be your own boss,” said Tall 
Jim. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


85 


Curly looked at his brother and, smiling, said, 
“Well, I wouldn’t mind working for her ; she’s worth 
it, ain’t she?” 

“I should say so, but go to sleep, kid, and be 
good and we’ll see how soon that leg of yours gets 
well so you can walk to the parson,” said Tall Jim, 
starting for the door. 

“Hold on a minute,” said Curly. “Say, have you 
got that little ring you always kept?” 

“Which one?” asked Tall Jim. 

“That little diamond. I think it will fit Barbara ; 
it will take too long to send away for one, and you 
said you wasn’t going to marry, so I thought you 
could give it to me for such a pretty sister-in-law,” 
said Curly. 

“All right, kid,” said Tall Jim, drawing forth a 
little white box from his pocket and tossing it over 
on the bed. “I guess somebody will wear it after 
I am gone, and I would rather it would be her than 
anybody.” He turned and went through the door. 

When Barbara, Dorothy and Cyclone Will finished 
their supper they went up to Curly’s room. Curly 
was glad to see them and they spent an hour with 
him, talking over the happenings of the day. At 
six o’clock Dorothy and Barbara changed their rid- 
ing habit for a cool, light evening dress. 

“Are you going to the dance?” asked Dorothy. 

“Why, I guess so; wait a minute; I want to see 
Curly before I go. You and Will wait for me in 


86 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


the parlor,” said Barbara, walking across the hall 
to Curly’s room. She opened the door, closing it 
after her. She was dressed all in white. She sat 
down on a box by the side of his bed. “Well, how 
are you feeling now?” she asked. 

“Lots better. Hold up your left hand and I will 
give you something, but you will have to kiss me 
for it; will you?” he asked. 

“Let me see it first,” said Barbara, smiling up at 
him. 

“All right,” he answered as he opened the white 
box Tall Jim gave him, taking out a little gold ring 
set with a big diamond. 

“Oh! How beautiful!” exclaimed Barbara; “it’s 
worth a kiss,” she said, leaning over. Curly said 
nothing, but he slipped his arm around her and 
kissed her on the mouth, then he slipped the ring on 
the third finger of her left hand. 

“Now it’s mine,” said Barbara, holding her hand 
up so the diamond could sparkle in the lamp light. 

“And you’re mine — my girl of the West, my little 
Arizona Rose,” said Curly. 

Barbara smiled and huddled up closer to him while 
he was singing softly: 

“Oh, my wild prairie rose, 

The sweetest flower that grows ; 

You may search everywhere, 

But none can compare 
With my wild prairie rose. 


A GIRL OF THE WEST 


87 


Oh, my wild prairie rose, 

The dearest flower that grows; 

Some day for my sake, 

You will let me partake 

The bloom from my wild Arizona rose.” 


THE END 










































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